guru3d Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion all-cash deal

[ENTERPRISE]

What I will say is I personally feel that Microsoft will move over as much as possible to a SaaS model. Will they do it for everything....not for Operation Systems IMHO. There OS is a their tool for market penetration and data mining, they need to keep it free for those reasons so I am confident that for the foreseeable future, the OS will not enter a subscription model.

[Andrew]

17 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

See, that's exactly my gripe.

You're fine with RENTING your games and the "store" telling you what you can and cannot play.  I'm not.  If I pay good money for a game, I expect to OWN that game forever.  Same thing with movies.  I understand there's some licensing limitations, always has been.  But I can still play my original copy of Quake from 1996.  I cannot say the same for half of my Steam library.

Huh? I have a bunch of games in my Steam library that have since been removed for sale and I can still play them just fine. They're all still on the download servers, you can just no longer purchase them because of licensing.

[UltraMega]

2 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

What I will say is I personally feel that Microsoft will move over as much as possible to a SaaS model. Will they do it for everything....not for Operation Systems IMHO. There OS is a their tool for market penetration and data mining, they need to keep it free for those reasons so I am confident that for the foreseeable future, the OS will not enter a subscription model.

Data mining is probably a factor, but even more so I think they wouldn't want to upset the payment structure for windows to prevent people from moving to Android as a cheaper alternative. Android is probably the biggest threat to windows but luckily for Microsoft, Google has been struggling to exite their customers about anything. 

 

Even if Ms does see more value in sub models VS standard purchases, I think they will continue to have both options for all foreseeable future. As long as people buy it one way or the other, they're happy. 

[Diffident]

22 hours ago, UltraMega said:

I see this as Microsoft competing with Sony by trying to improve their first party line up. Likewise Sony is getting more and more into the PC market. 

 

As a gamer, seems like we're winning out. Maybe if Call of Duty doesn't come to Playstation later on that will be a disappointment for Playstation owners but overall I see the competition between Sony and Microsoft as a win for gamers.

If games are going to be locked to one platform over another, it's not a win for gamers.  I doubt Playstation owners are considering any of these purchases as a "win".

 

[UltraMega]

3 hours ago, Diffident said:

If games are going to be locked to one platform over another, it's not a win for gamers.  I doubt Playstation owners are considering any of these purchases as a "win".

 

Some games have always been console exclusive though so it's nothing new. I'd say there are less exclusives now than in the past, and with Sony releasing their games on PC now, it's definitely a win for PC gamers. 

 

I really don't see why MS wouldn't want to sell COD on Playstation though. Money is money, and they make money from selling games and subscriptions, not from selling hardware. If people want to buy COD on Playstation, I don't see why MS wouldn't want to take their money as well. I think at the least though, COD would come out sooner on PC/Xbox, then  Playstation maybe 6 months or so later. 

[Andrew]

15 hours ago, Diffident said:

If games are going to be locked to one platform over another, it's not a win for gamers.  I doubt Playstation owners are considering any of these purchases as a "win".

 

Microsoft basically already confirmed that none of those games are going to be Xbox/PC exclusives. The only games that are going to remain exclusives are ones that have always been exclusives such as Halo and Forza.

[EHW Ai]

Perhaps of interest in a direct marketing sort of way (received today; haven't turned on my XBOX in years):

 

 

Quote

With Xbox All Access, joining the next generation is easier than ever. Get an Xbox Series S and 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate starting from $24.99/month (a $59.99 savings*) for 24 months and no upfront cost.^

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by iamjanco

[GanjaSMK]

When does the subscription model finally end?

[Diffident]

8 hours ago, Andrew said:

Microsoft basically already confirmed that none of those games are going to be Xbox/PC exclusives. The only games that are going to remain exclusives are ones that have always been exclusives such as Halo and Forza.

The same was said after the purchase of Bethesda.  Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls are exclusives.

[UltraMega]

2 hours ago, Diffident said:

The same was said after the purchase of Bethesda.  Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls are exclusives.

The term "exclusive" has been used to describe a lot of games that come out on one platform first but still eventually comes to other platforms. The next Horizon game is a "Playstation exclusive" even though it's coming to PC eventually. 

 

As far as I know, Microsoft has not said it won't be releasing any of the games in question on Playstation yet but I could be wrong. 

[pio]

31 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

The term "exclusive" has been used to describe a lot of games that come out on one platform first but still eventually comes to other platforms. The next Horizon game is a "Playstation exclusive" even though it's coming to PC eventually. 

 

As far as I know, Microsoft has not said it won't be releasing any of the games in question on Playstation yet but I could be wrong. 

You mean like how GTA V "wasn't exclusive" to consoles?  Or did you forget that PC gamers didn't get it for over a YEAR later.  And it was BROKEN on PC for years after that.

Face it bro, we have valid complaints here about this aquisition.  It's NOT a good thing for one company to own so many game companies.  They're going to ruin those companies further than they already were.

Edited January 21, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[UltraMega]

3 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

You mean like how GTA V "wasn't exclusive" to consoles?  Or did you forget that PC gamers didn't get it for over a YEAR later.  And it was BROKEN on PC for years after that.

Face it bro, we have valid complaints here about this aquisition.  It's NOT a good thing for one company to own so many game companies.  They're going to ruin those companies further than they already were.

I think valid concerns is more accurate than valid complaints since none of this has happened yet.

 

Still, as PC gamers we're not going to miss out on anything so I don't see a down side for us. I'd also argue that Microsoft is definitely not going to ruin Activision any further, likely the exact opposite. As for console games, it's definitely likely that some of these games will stop coming out on PS but I just don't see why Microsoft would really care at this point since the money is in game sales, but we'll just have to wait and see if ultimately Ms sees more value in exclusivity or total sales. 

 

That said, you're clearly skeptical of Microsoft on the basis that they're a big company and therefore automatically have bad intentions and I don't find any logic to that kind of sentiment at all so I will argue firmly against those kinds of ideas. Skepticism needs to be grounded in reality for me to accept it as reasonable. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by UltraMega

[pio]

14 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

I think valid concerns is more accurate than valid complaints since none of this has happened yet.

 

Still, as PC gamers we're not going to miss out on anything so I don't see a down side for us. I'd also argue that Microsoft is definitely not going to ruin Activision any further, likely the exact opposite. 

 

 

That said, you're clearly skeptical of Microsoft on the basis that they're a big company and therefore automatically have bad intentions and I don't find any logic to that kind of sentiment at all so I will argue firmly against those kinds of ideas. Skepticism needs to be grounded in reality for me to accept it as reasonable. 

Dude....they're already doing it.  I showed you that earlier with office.  Here, let's look at game pass.  What all items do you NOT get unless you pay for the "Game Pass Ultimate"?

 

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — Ultimate 1 Month | Xbox

WWW.XBOX.COM

 

You keep saying that they're not doing it yet, but they ARE.  When I go and buy a new game title today, I also have to buy day one DLC, and other nonsense just to get the full experience.  Some games are already rolling out regular DLC or some other form of subscription model to get you to pay more for the game you've already paid for.  With gamepass, its turned into a monthly subscription.  How long until that's the norm?  It's painfully obvious to ANYONE who's been in the PC industry for years that this is where its headed, especially when these companies are flat out saying it in press releases.

I just....I can't even argue with you when you don't even read what I'm telling you, and showing you directly from the company themselves.  It has nothing to do with how big the company is, it has to do with where they see the future going.  I could care less if its Microsoft, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Google, whoever.  When I pay good money for something, I expect a product in return.  Period.  And on top of that, I expect the FULL product that I paid for.

Edited January 21, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[UltraMega]

8 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

Dude....they're already doing it.  I showed you that earlier with office.  Here, let's look at game pass.  What all items do you NOT get unless you pay for the "Game Pass Ultimate"?

 

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — Ultimate 1 Month | Xbox

WWW.XBOX.COM

 

You keep saying that they're not doing it yet, but they ARE.  When I go and buy a new game title today, I also have to buy day one DLC, and other nonsense just to get the full experience.  Some games are already rolling out regular DLC or some other form of subscription model to get you to pay more for the game you've already paid for.  With gamepass, its turned into a monthly subscription.  How long until that's the norm?  It's painfully obvious to ANYONE who's been in the PC industry for years that this is where its headed, especially when these companies are flat out saying it in press releases.

I just....I can't even argue with you when you don't even read what I'm telling you, and showing you directly from the company themselves.  It has nothing to do with how big the company is, it has to do with where they see the future going.  I could care less if its Microsoft, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Google, whoever.  When I pay good money for something, I expect a product in return.  Period.  And on top of that, I expect the FULL product that I paid for.

I'm not sure what you keep going on about with office because over and over I've just repeatedly pointed out that you can still buy office in a non subscription form. Same is true for all these games, game pass is just an option. It's not required for any particular games. 

 

If in the future subscription services are the only option, that will be annoying but that's not the case now and it's not going to be the case anytime soon. Frankly you have done nothing to support your argument with real evidence, only suspicion. I'm not saying it will never happen, but until theres some evidence of that I'm not going to be concerned. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by UltraMega

[pio]

1 minute ago, UltraMega said:

I'm not sure what you keep going on about with office because over and over I've just repeatedly pointed out that you can still buy office in a non subscription form. Same is true for all these games, game pass is just an option. It's not required for any particular games. 

 

If in the future subscription services are the only option, that will be annoying but that's not the case now and it's not going to be the case anytime soon. Frankly you have done nothing to support your argument with real evidence, only suspicion. I'm. Ot saying it will never happen, but until theres some evidence of that I'm not going to be concerned. 

Show me where you can buy Office Premium, Outlook, and Onedrive.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

And yes, I have shown you evidence, you're just not looking at it.  I'm done with this conversation.  Clearly you can't see other people's point of view.  Personally, I'm fine with having the OPTION for these things.  So long as it stays an option.  But its not, and it hasn't been for a while.

[UltraMega]

34 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

Show me where you can buy Office Premium, Outlook, and Onedrive.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

And yes, I have shown you evidence, you're just not looking at it.  I'm done with this conversation.  Clearly you can't see other people's point of view.  Personally, I'm fine with having the OPTION for these things.  So long as it stays an option.  But its not, and it hasn't been for a while.

As I already stated, office 2021 comes in 3 versions. Only the student version does not come with outlook. You can buy it directly from Microsoft. Not hard to find. One drive is a free feature built into windows.

 

I understand your point of view, you think Microsoft wants to eventually eliminate single purchase software sales and go full subscription. I maintain that you have not shown any evidence of that happening, purely your own skepticism. 

 

Again, not saying it will never happen but for now I see no evidence of it. I don't take the mere existence of subscription options as evidence that other options are being eliminated when that has not happened. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by UltraMega

[pio]

1 hour ago, UltraMega said:

As I already stated, office 2021 comes in 3 versions. Only the student version does not come with outlook. You can buy it directly from Microsoft. Not hard to find. One drive is a free feature built into windows.

 

I understand your point of view, you think Microsoft wants to eventually eliminate single purchase software sales and go full subscription. I maintain that you have not shown any evidence of that happening, purely your own skepticism. 

 

Again, not saying it will never happen but for now I see no evidence of it. I don't take the mere existence of subscription options as evidence that other options are being eliminated when that has not happened. 

I'm still waiting mate.  You CANNOT buy Office 2021, only "classic".  You CANNOT buy Office Premium.  You skipped outlook, which again you cannot buy.  And the "free" version of OneDrive that's included with Windows is gimped compared to the subscription model version.

I've shown you evidence, I've given game examples even.  You're just not listening.  Go try to play MW2 online.  Then go play COD4 online.  Let me know what the differences are.  I'll give you a hint, COD4 you can still play.  MW2, you can't without installing mods, and even then there's just no community for it anymore.  Go play GTA IV online, hint...you can't.  Developers are nerfing old games so they can push their latest games, DLC, and subscription models.  This has been happening for years.

Edited January 21, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[UltraMega]

5 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

I'm still waiting mate.  You CANNOT buy Office 2021, only "classic".  You CANNOT buy Office Premium.  You skipped outlook, which again you cannot buy.  And the "free" version of OneDrive that's included with Windows is gimped compared to the subscription model version.

I've shown you evidence, I've given game examples even.  You're just not listening.  Go try to play MW2 online.  Then go play COD4 online.  Let me know what the differences are.  I'll give you a hint, COD4 you can still play.  MW2, you can't without installing mods, and even then there's just no community for it anymore.  Go play GTA IV online, hint...you can't.  Developers are nerfing old games so they can push their latest games, DLC, and subscription models.  This has been happening for years.

This is just wrong. You absolutely can buy office 2021 in whatever of the three versions you want. 

 

I'm not sure how differences in COD games have any relevance here. Arguably the issues you might have with Activision could go away now that they're under new management. 

 

As for OneDrive, since typically that would not be a part of a non-subscription based version of office, I don't think it counts as something that's been lost. Any Office files would save to the default documents folder in Windows would be backed up by OneDrive by default with or without Office, so I'm not sure what difference it makes. OneDrive is free and you can back up Office files with it just by saving them to the documents folder.

 

Additionally, Microsoft has made efforts to move away from Outlook. I'm actually surprised to learn they still support it with new versions at all. Their distancing themselves from Outlook, if that's what they're doing, has nothing to do with Subscriptions. Yet on that note, I'm pretty sure Outlook was not usually a part of the cheaper home/student versions of Office though I could be wrong. 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by UltraMega

[pio]

5 hours ago, UltraMega said:

This is just wrong. You absolutely can buy office 2021 in whatever of the three versions you want. 

 

I'm not sure how differences in COD games have any relevance here. Arguably the issues you might have with Activision could go away now that they're under new management. 

 

As for OneDrive, since typically that would not be a part of a non-subscription based version of office, I don't think it counts as something that's been lost. Any Office files would save to the default documents folder in Windows would be backed up by OneDrive by default with or without Office, so I'm not sure what difference it makes. OneDrive is free and you can back up Office files with it just by saving them to the documents folder.

 

Additionally, Microsoft has made efforts to move away from Outlook. I'm actually surprised to learn they still support it with new versions at all. Their distancing themselves from Outlook, if that's what they're doing, has nothing to do with Subscriptions. Yet on that note, I'm pretty sure Outlook was not usually a part of the cheaper home/student versions of Office though I could be wrong. 

 

Ahem, I thought we were talking about HOME Office here, not the $439 Pro version?  And you don't understand how COD is relevant here?  Dude, just nevermind.  I've only picked a handful of titles that I personally knew off the top of my head for my arguments, there's many many more that I could complain about.  Here, I'll make it easy for you, you're right and I'm delusional.  K?  K.   Obviously you just don't get it, you said so yourself.  I've only been involved in the PC community since about 1998.  It's not like I haven't personally watched all of this evolve over the last 25 years or anything.

 

Let me ask you a question, maybe this will make more sense. Why do you think we're all here at EHW and not over at OCN anymore? Do you think it has anything to do with the biggest media company buying a website and ruining it for a lot of people? Because that's why I'm here and why I haven't logged into the other site in years. You might not view it that way, but some of us do. There's a reason people don't like these things, it's because we know better because we've seen better. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[Section31]

It would be nice of we went back to pre dlc business models for game where all additional content was always free and focus is less on esports/tournament. Only expansion were extra and they had lot more content to justify it. Mod Support was also much better in the day, some epic mods were made for games like simcity 4 among things. Too much cheating on multiplayer, lot of bad attitude players.

 

However I enjoyed the cheating in single player games (i am more single player gamer even in the past). Generally used trainers. I used to spend time doing xml editing on gal civ3, sins of an solar empire even civilization game editing to speed up the game building up phase. Mass effect and Borderlands 1/2 save game editing. Then there was fun times where i spent every day trading/cloning expensive cars on gt5 to my various psn accounts.

[Section31]

11 hours ago, UltraMega said:

As I already stated, office 2021 comes in 3 versions. Only the student version does not come with outlook. You can buy it directly from Microsoft. Not hard to find. One drive is a free feature built into windows.

 

I understand your point of view, you think Microsoft wants to eventually eliminate single purchase software sales and go full subscription. I maintain that you have not shown any evidence of that happening, purely your own skepticism. 

 

Again, not saying it will never happen but for now I see no evidence of it. I don't take the mere existence of subscription options as evidence that other options are being eliminated when that has not happened. 

 

Office has focused on subscription model. I think it’s mostly business oriented professional who use outlook now. Its not best piece of software now. They don’t like change. The amount of headaches i get from staff dealing with its bug/sudden new features can get annoying.

 

My office was using office 2003/2007 till recently when we shifted bulk of them to office 365.

 

Business users liked the old versions because you could buy one copy (pre-online activation) and install it on all the office’s pc. It just isn’t safe anymore.

 

They still do the offline activation for any business software that still allows it. Whatever you can save on software users licenses is huge.

 

The office staff all want adobe pro pdf but my boss doesn’t want to pay so we endup using the readers with free offline alternatives like pdf fill basic to fill up the holes.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Section31

[cscoder4ever]

Subscriptions here we come! and I will not partake.

[Section31]

10 minutes ago, cscoder4ever said:

Subscriptions here we come! and I will not partake.

 

Easy for gamers but already part of the business community for while. Generally my work place pays yearly fees for latest version. However not very well programmed software with few options (all owned by same parent company)

 

Caseware (one desktop, one laptop per license but we install it on two staff desktop)

 

Sage50 - Yearly renewal but it has offline activation still. Needed for updated latest payroll cheques to clients employee/staff

 

Quickbooks - Yearly One copy only as its one user only. Most of our clients use Sage 50

 

Office 365 - as stated

 

Cantax T1/T2/FM (Changing to other product in one-two year) - one desktop/laptop per user but again we just install on two desktop 

 

Adobe PDF - Important/essential staff are given subscriptions 

 

Antivirus/VPN - Bitdefender/Kasperky- Higher level staff get the paid ones. Basic get free ones

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Section31

[GanjaSMK]

I just wanted to chime in that I see SaaS models everywhere these days and my question earlier was not intended to chide at the option, it was to simply see if anyone has any insider knowledge - if that model is going to be replaced or end at some point? 
 

I personally am... not a fan.  In some instances I appreciate it.  One instance would be music streaming.  And primarily because I still listen to the OTA radio waves in my car and even as recently as my last 'home', but being on the road and not having great reception with OTA antenna often, streaming does do the trick!  But in other instances, man it's a bummer. 

 

MBAM for instance.

 

I still have all my old keys on file for software I've purchased from back in the day, and one in particular was a 'lifetime' license for MBAM at the height of when I was doing a lot of PC repair/malware removal.  It still works, but only up to certain versions now, IIRC. 

 

And I get it, companies have to be profitable and you can't be profitable selling life-time licenses anymore - at least not without a hefty price tag if that was the option.  I think I paid like $15 and that really should have probably been 10x the cost for a 'lifetime' license.  

 

Anyways, I think part of SaaS is similarly along the lines of 'digitizing' everything.  We're (slowly) eradicating the need to have 'things' in all sorts of physical forms, if they need-not-be. Paper (records, receipts, logs, etc), music (well, this is a big debate and I do love me some CD's and appreciate vinyl), books (yep, still in print too but I'm just making a generalized notion); and so on. 

It's really an interesting time to be observing what is happening around me (us) today.  I often wonder about the person who was observing their changing world when they saw electricity, autos, planes, etc. 

 

I definitely do NOT want to have SaaS models take over everything though.  I enjoy going to a foodstore; outdoor market or brick-n-mortar.  I don't want to subscribe to a 'service' to keep my fridge full.  And from that standpoint, that's where I stand... 

 

But to each their own!

[Diffident]

On 20/01/2022 at 20:29, UltraMega said:

The term "exclusive" has been used to describe a lot of games that come out on one platform first but still eventually comes to other platforms. The next Horizon game is a "Playstation exclusive" even though it's coming to PC eventually. 

 

As far as I know, Microsoft has not said it won't be releasing any of the games in question on Playstation yet but I could be wrong. 

Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 will both be Microsoft platform exclusives, not just timed exclusives.  This is an example of anti consumer behaviour.  Buying a franchise that was multi platform then after purchase only making it available for your own platform.

 

Imagine if Nvidia bought a couple major game studios and somehow locked the games to only Nvidia GPU's.  I'm sure everyone would be singing a different tune.  Twitter and Reddit would essentially be DDos'd from the outcry.